On the night of 1 to 2 December, the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union succeeded in reaching a provisional agreement with the European Parliament on the Regulation revising the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP). This legislation allows developing and least developed countries (LDCs) to export to the EU duty-free, provided they meet certain conditions.
The aim of the revision was to tighten human rights obligations for beneficiary countries, but also to allow preferences to be withdrawn quickly in the event of a breach of the rules or disruption of European markets.
Readmissions. The EU Council convinced MEPs to keep the Commission’s proposal that third countries which do not accept the readmission of their nationals should no longer benefit from the GSP. This point of disagreement led to a deadlock in the negotiations (see EUROPE 13371/5).
MEPs finally agreed to include this provision, on condition that the period of discussions between the Commission and the country concerned is extended to 12 months and that the LDCs are given a period of application of two years after the entry into force of the Regulation. In addition, the suspension of tariff preferences will only take effect 18 months after the decision.
In 2024, Parliament’s Legal Service issued a pessimistic opinion on the compatibility of this clause with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). According to the legal opinion consulted by Agence Europe, in the event of a WTO dispute, the EU would probably have to prove that the readmission of migrants benefits the third countries concerned, which is proving difficult.
Safeguards. The last point of disagreement to be resolved in recent weeks concerned the safeguard clause for rice imports. The co-legislators agreed on an automatic mechanism based on tariff quotas, solely for rice from Cambodia and Myanmar (see EUROPE 13714/15).
According to our information, the automatic safeguard would be triggered in the event of an increase of more than 45% in imports compared to the previous year, and provided that volumes exceed 562,000 tonnes per year, for Cambodia and Myanmar combined.
Once this threshold is reached, the tariffs are reinstated until the end of the year and a tariff quota is set for the following year (387,000 tonnes/year).
This result is not satisfactory for the text’s rapporteur, Gabriel Mato (EPP, Spanish). The thresholds “are excessively high and therefore insufficient to trigger protection in time, when our producers need it”, he declared the day after the agreement. The ECR Group’s negotiator shares this opinion, according to our information.
Other products that could prove sensitive – ethanol or textiles – are covered by a more traditional safeguard clause, and LDCs are exempt.
The road to adoption. Rapporteur Bernd Lange (S&D, German) welcomed the tougher rules on the withdrawal of preferences in the event of non-readmission.
However, the Greens/EFA will not support the agreement because of the link with migration. “Not only is this legal nonsense, which can be challenged before the WTO, it is also economic nonsense. Our textile industries, which are already subject to competition from China, will now have to rely on an instrument that is uncertain and not robust”, said Majdouline Sbaï (Greens/EFA, French), previously shadow rapporteur on the text.
The plenary vote is scheduled for February. A majority to support the agreement is not guaranteed, with EPP members divided over the outcome. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)